I chose UEL [University of East London] because it's close to my house – I live in east London, and it's just 15 minutes away. I didn't look at anywhere else and, in fact, I wasn't sure I was even going to go to university. I started music at 13, and when I was thinking about applying I just thought I couldn't do my music and go to uni – and it's true that it's been really hard work.

I had a friend who was already doing moving image and animation, and when he explained what he was doing, I thought, "Yes, that's what I want to do". It's been really helpful with my music – when I'm doing a music video I understand the position of the camera, why they need a reflection, I can make sense of what I'm being asked to do. And then there's the business side of things.

I did GNVQs at school and a few more courses at college. When I went to the interview I had to talk about what I had done before. It wasn't too complicated, but I was really impressed by the tutors – they were really into what they were teaching, and they were all working on their own projects.

My first year was all about how to use the software and learning new things. On my first day, the tutors told us what we would be doing – and it wasn't just filming stuff, there was a lot of written work as well. I remember thinking there was going to be a lot more to it than I thought. I don't mind the written work, but I really don't like having to do presentations in front of everyone – I am always running late, so I was always rushing in to present.

I haven't had a very typical university experience. I lived at home and I'm not really someone who goes out and gets drunk in the student bar. I had two close friends on my course, and we've stuck together, but otherwise I meet a lot of new people through my music so I wasn't trying to mix. I don't have any regrets, but maybe I could have got more involved with things.

People in my class didn't really know about my music – I tried to get on without people noticing or recognising me. When the single came out, I was on the front page of the student newspaper, but luckily that wasn't until the end of the course.

It's been hard work combining my music and my degree. When I was in uni, I was seeing my tutors or in the library – the rest of the time I was doing music. I knew what I wanted, so I had to just get on with it. This year I had a No 1 single and I've been on tour, but I still had to do my 6,000-word essay on visual theory, and produce an animation and a documentary. For the documentary I managed to combine uni and music: I made a film about our tour manager. So while I was on tour, I was filming what he was up to, setting up the stage, getting us ready, all that stuff. It was a bit mad, but I couldn't not do it. There were a lot of points where I thought I wasn't going to finish, but all you can do is try. I didn't think "I've got a No 1 so I don't have to do it any more" and somehow I managed to get all the work finished in time.

Top tip: It's easy to feel free and think you can catch up at the end, but if you stay focused all the way through, you'll really enjoy it.

•Tinchy Stryder has just finished a BA in moving image and animation at University of East London. His album, Catch 22, is out now